After the first night of the DNC, I think it’s safe to say that the Democrats are already outshining the GOP.  Yes,, I’m a little biased, but from what I hear there are only a few thousand people in a handful of states who aren’t committed at this point, so I’m not unique in that respect.

You could tell even watching on TV how different this event was going to be from last week’s.  It was festive.  It was happy.  It was positive.  I didn’t love the “Forward” slogan before; now I’m all in for it.

I’ve never been one who got swept up in political speeches.  I sometimes got what I was supposed to be feeling during a speech, but I was seldom really moved.  That was still true as I watched the Republican speakers in Tampa.  It could have been because I don’t live in the world most of those people described.  It could have been because of the sheer mendacity most of them showed.  It could have been the choice of speakers.   When a loud-mouthed bully like Chris Christie is one of your party’s rising stars, I know your “big tent” doesn’t have a place for me.  You don’t even need DOMA to seal the deal.

Interesting thing:  Deval Patrick and Julian Castro were both able to get the room without busting the chops of the successful or going near the Second Amendment.  Some have said that the Dems should address the assault weapons ban that’s in their platform.  I don’t agree.  If they go through the next two nights without mentioning guns, that’ll be fine with me.  One of the most disturbing parts of the RNC was when Susana Martinez segued from the inspiring story of her own rise to the governorship of New Mexico to the .375 Magnum she used to carry when she guarded a church parking lot as a teenager.  Sweet.

I am not ashamed to say that I am now totally in the bag for Michelle Obama.  Who isn’t?  The raves for her performance started as soon as she finished speaking and are continuing today.  She doesn’t need my accolades to add to the rest, so I’ll just point out what her speech had that Ann Romney’s didn’t:  specificity.  Michelle let us in in a way that the Romneys won’t or can’t.  Ann’s speech, though fine, was a long string of generalities that carried on Mitt’s theme of “just trust me.”  A week later, the only things I remembered without prompting were her embarrassing “I love you women!” announcement and the fact that Mitt didn’t like being around her parents.  From Michelle’s on the other hand, I’m sure I’ll remember her makeshift bedroom, her dad’s struggle with multiple sclerosis (somehow more compelling than the way Ann presented hers) and Barak’s too-small shoes, rusted-out car and dumpster coffee table.  She made their experience real and vivid.

Watching the two conventions, I can’t help but look at the GOP and ask, “Who are these people and what world do they live in?”  At their best, conservatives are a moderating influence on the free-wheeling liberals, tempering the speed of progress, not stopping it altogether.  As they are now, they’re just mean-spirited and delusional.  The last time I felt this alienated by the right was in 1992, when literally every night of their convention at least one speaker spat right in my eye.

So I worry.  I worry that those few undecideds in those few swing states will fall for the millions of dollars’ worth of super PAC hype that is being hurled at them and give us Willard Mitt “G.W. Bush” Romney as our next commander-in-chief.

For the first time ever, I’m turning to Ann Coulter for solace.  She predicted that if the Republicans nominated Romney, they’d lose.  From her mouth to Ohio’s ears.